Cub
by Hartt
Summary: '...and that's when they knew, from the way that his entire posture shifted, that if people were rain, they were a drizzle and he was a hurricane.'
1. Prologue

**DISCLAIMER: I own Alex Rider...in my dreams. **

**Okay so this is my first Alex Rider fan fiction...please bear with me while I get use to writing about this.**

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**CUB: PROLOGUE**

Looking into the window Alex Rider almost didn't recognise himself in the partial reflection he could see. Alex had the same dirty blonde hair that never seemed to be anything but unruly and messy, the same face, maybe a little more grown into now. His body was slightly more muscular then the boys in his year, but that was to be expected from the straining missions and football. It may have been the eyes. They were the ordinary brown colour but something inside of them seemed frozen, almost as if they had lost any life in them. They were cold and hard, generally emitting a sense of danger to anyone who dared to look into them. They were the eyes of someone who had seen too much. You would only recognise the cold look as that if you had seen it before.

At just age 15 he was a spy, one of the best, for MI6. When he had attempted normalcy in America with the Pleasures he found himself missing his old life. All of a sudden now he knew of the many exploits that happened daily he realised that he wanted to help. He would not be able to live with himself if someone had died because he couldn't get over himself. Except being alone and having to rely in himself had its toll. He no longer allowed anyone inside his mind for even a second, after all. It was a weakness to allow someone that control.

Alex sighed as he started trying to concentrate on his Maths revision. He had his exams coming up in a month, naturally all the teachers were whining at them to revise every night whilst revising in class. Not to mention the coursework he had for his Science BETC and English GCSE. It was almost killing him with the stress. After all he had to always be on his alert for any attempts from some terrorist organisation he had pissed off recently or someone looking for revenge. After all, trouble seemed to follow him. It wasn't like he even asked for it. It just kind of happened.

In hindsight he should have known by the way the birds had stopped chirping, and how the traffic and noises of children had stopped from outside of the school. He had grown sloppy, however, after weeks of acting like a normal teenager. He had let his guard down. Just once, but that was enough. A loud noise seemed to echo down the corridor from outside. Alex stiffened. He knew that noise. It was one no teenager should recognise. Judging by the way the Mr Kemp's face paled the supply teacher knew what it was too.

_A gunshot._

That was enough to send Alex's guard up. The class watched the door intently, waiting for something to happen. They had all realised what the noise was after a girl yelling it out, claiming to have heard a gunshot on a crime show beforehand. They all waited, tensed and ready for someone to burst in and start shooting randomly. They were accepting their death. If Alex was lucky it would just be a school shooting. It said a lot about his life when that would be considered luck. It seemed like 5 minutes when in relatively it had only been a few seconds.

The door opened and in strode a woman and a man, that much was obvious from the outline of their body. Both wore a black trousers, a black top and a black bandana hiding most of their face. On their right arm an armband was on it. It had a red scorpion on. That alone was enough for Alex's blood to turn cold. _Scorpia_. But why was Scorpia in his school? It made no sense unless they were hoping to call him out in front of his friends. Then again that would cause further embarrassment towards Scorpia. It was confusing him. Maybe he was just reading too much into it. Maybe they were holding a school hostage for money from the government and it was only coincidental that it was his school they targeted.

Even as he had the thought he dismissed it. There were no coincidental occurrences in the espionage businesses. Something that Alan Blunt had highlighted to him several times. Alex slunk down in his seat, hoping it would minimise the risk of being seen just in case they didn't know he was in this class. "Hello, children." The woman said. Her voice was sweet, sickly...it was deadly. It lured you into a false sense of security. Had it not been for the fact she was holding a gun in her hand anyone would have believed she couldn't hurt a fly. The man stood their, silent. Alex guessed he was the brute muscle and the woman was the communicator. "Today you are going to help us. We are holding you for ransom in order to gain some intelligence information on the location of an loose end."

The class were frozen with fear, Alex quickly adjusted his body language to match theirs instead of the tensed posture he had previously. "Just in case you need some persuading..." The woman trailed off. It happened so quickly no one could have stopped it. A loud bang from the gun. A bullet whizzing through the air. Then the bullet hit it's target. A girl beside Alex. Her name was Alice Gould and was one of the sweetest girls in the school, despite the fact she was constantly bullied. The class watched in horror as the auburn haired, blue eyed, girl dropped to the floor, lifeless. A bullet was driven straight through her neck, causing pools of blood to appear beneath her. "Any questions on how this is going to work?" There was only silence as an answer.

Alex slowly got his phone out, calling Ben Daniel's number. He knew Ben was in SAS training this month with K Unit as MI6 and SAS were creating a joint force for joint assignments. Ben had to always have his phone on him, as he was his designated backup. Alex placed the phone on loudspeaker before slipping it into his jacket. "Its Cub! Shut up. We'll play in a minute. Let me just get him on speaker." Alex heard Ben's muffled voice. He waited. Then when he distantly heard a click he began his plan.

"How many people are there in the school?" Alex called. The woman turned her deathly glare on him. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"I suppose there is no harm in telling you, after all. Its not as if you will be able to tell anyone." The woman reasoned. She then cleared her throat. "Come up to the front, boy." Alex rose to his feet, walking slowly to the front as if he was scared. "There are 2 of us per classroom which is inhabited. Which means 30 assassins. Yes, I said assassins. We are a criminal organisation called Scorpia and we want information on Alex Rider, a boy who is MI6's best agent and managed to tarnish our reputation." The woman huffed.

"You're not doing a good job," Alex said. "If a teenager can beat you."

"And what, may I ask, is your name?" The woman demanded.

"I'm Alex. Alex Rider."


	2. Alone

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alex Rider, because if I did I would get paid to write about him and it would not be classed as copyright. **

_**- So this took longer then it should have to write. Basically the tab shut down and I had to start again. Enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it, which is a lot. -**_

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**CUB: ALONE**

The woman applied her basic training in order to mask her surprise, but to Alex it was obvious that the news shocked her. After all, they were holding the one they wanted hostage. There's got to be some kind of surprising element. "This makes it easier." The woman muttered. Alex bit back a sarcastic retort, the woman wouldn't hesitate to kill someone else in his class. He couldn't risk anyone else dying because of him. He wouldn't be able to live with that guilt. The woman nodded. Curiously, and sensing a presence behind him, Alex turned around. He had to duck quickly to avoid the man's blow that was aimed at a pressure point on his neck. If it had hit he would have been useless to anyone and everyone.

Maybe it was the fact he knew them all personally, even if they were rude to him, that gave Alex the protectiveness in which he used to try and stay conscious. Alex swore quietly as the man kept raining blow upon blow on him, he managed to block some of them - however a few landed on him. Evidently they were like lions and he was the prey. They were just toying with him. They didn't want to kill him just yet, that would take any fun out of it. However, Alex knew people slipped up when they were angry. So he needed to start pissing them off. It wasn't much of a plan but it was all he had. "Is that all you have?" Alex taunted. "I'm sure a 5 year old girl could do a better job." The man grunted, visibly becoming more and more blinded with rage as his attempts to hit the teenager became more and more sloppy.

Alex dodged a stray punch as he realised that the assassins were beginners. There was no variety to the hits. It was just fists. Plus someone who had been trained for a while would have realised that if a teenage boy had almost collapsed an entire criminal organisation it was wise to get rid of him while they could. Alex used his foot to hook the back of his legs and sent him sprawled onto the floor. Alex quickly squatted down, pressure pointing him until he laid unconscious. Alex stood up, turning around. It was obvious they were sent to fail. They didn't expect them to succeed. So why did they send them?

"Impressive." The woman said with a blank face. She rose her gun. Alex waited for the impact, but it never came. A loud bang echoed around the room for the second time. Realising he wasn't dead Alex looked around, seeing who was hit. It was Ryan Craft. He was the captain of the football team, having secured his place from Alex where he left constantly for missions. He was the 'pretty' boy of the school with brown hair and blue eyes. The shot was a direct hit to the forehead. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as he fell to the ground.

The screams and crying of students was blocked out. A sense of numbness had spread amongst him. Alex lunged at the woman while she watched in glee at the devastation she had caused. He twisted the gun out of her grip and took a step back. He pressed the trigger.

Yet another gunshot.

Then silence.

The woman was dead. Alex walked to the window. As he watched a helicopter with a red Scorpion on the bottom rose in the sky. Alex turned to the camera the school had installed (one for every class room) so nothing like the Science labs blowing up happened again. He knew a few agents had watched it and when everything was going south, ordered the other agents out of the other classes. Alex tucked the gun into his waistband, walking out and patrolling down the corridors, peering into classrooms to see who was alive. It seemed for every class there was no deaths.

With a sigh Alex walked to the school's reception, gulping when he saw Mrs Bedfordshire and Mr Bray laying dead on the ground, faces twisted into shock.


	3. Rider

**DISCLAIMER: Alex Rider and co does not belong to me, sadly. I'm still trying to bribe anyone into giving me it for Christmas. **

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**CUB: RIDER**

Alex Rider hung upside down from a chair staring at the 'bank's blank walls vacantly. He could barely bring himself to refer to this place as a bank after they consistently sent him off to his death time and time again, until he could barely remember how many times it was. Alex checked his watch again, aware that he had been here for a while now. He groaned quietly as he saw that for exactly an hour he had been sat here doing nothing. He may be a spy, but he was a teenager too. He got bored easily.

Alex sighed, swinging himself up the right way. He figured that since they had the guts to drag him into spying the first place and then decided to keep him waiting for over an hour they at least owed him the privilege to look around. He set off down the hall way, swinging his school bag over his shoulders, his trainers silent against the floor. He passed many agents. The young ones scoffed at him, assuming he was a kid of a parent that worked around here. The older ones, who had scars litter their faces, paled slightly, giving him nods. For it was obvious he was the son of John Rider. To them it was like seeing, an admittedly younger version, John Rider walk down the hall.

They had the same dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and facial structure. Even the way they walked was similar; silently and like a ghost. Alex barely acknowledged them, preferring to walk in silence. He didn't want to talk to anyone. He had no doubts that the 'random' hostage situation that panned out in his school was not just some conspiracy. As someone once said to him 'where some see consequence I see conspiracy'. Or something like that anyway, he wasn't going to waste some of his memory on such a quote from someone he didn't particularly like.

Alex has learnt many things in his line of spying, one of these things was wasting hate on those that didn't want to murder you in the most painful ways was merely something you should avoid. It was a waste of energy and thoughts. Sure Blunt had sent him off to his impending doom several times, but its not like Blunt wanted him to die. Blunt liked him alive, however his attitude and defiance towards Blunt was one thing that tested if Blunt actually wanted Alex alive that much. However, it couldn't excuse the fact Alex was the best agent in MI6 and the world (although the last one wasn't told to him). He was trained from a young age making him perfect for spying. After all, he was bred and raised to be a spy.

Alex strolled carelessly through office cubicles and corridors holding offices. It could almost be mistaken for the average office levels. If it wasn't for the guns left laying around on the desks as agents relaxed, chatting about their latest missions to their co-workers. It was almost enough to make Alex scoff. Even he knew that their was moles in every secrets services. As far as he knew any one of them could be in league with a criminal organisation. As far as they were concerned it was safe to talk, because it was MI6. Only the top agents that have dealt with the most extreme cases knew that their words were not safe, no matter what. Then again it may of been a mild case of paranoia that set him on edge around them.

"Hey! Kid! What are you doing here?" A man called, silencing the entire office cubicles. Alex sighed, it was only a matter of time. Someone was going to realise that he was _just a_ _kid_. Even the thought was bitter. He was old enough to go and risk his life for his country. Old enough to get shot. Old enough to save the world. Yet he wasn't old enough to drive, leave school or even make his own decisions.

"You remind me of someone." An older man mused. He had brown hair, swept to the side. His eyes were icy blue, cold and emotionless. He could be considered handsome. Scars were lightly poised on his face, giving him a ruggish look. "What's your name, kid?" Alex noted dully that all the agents in this office were old. Past the average field work retirement age for an agent.

"Alex. Alex Rider." Alex said. The agent's eyes all widened in disbelief briefly before they managed to reign in their display of emotion. They were sloppy.

"As in...John Rider?" A woman asked.

"He was my father." Alex said curtly, before walking off. He continued walking, not stopping to talk to anyone until he reached a room. It was unmarked yet unlocked, the door open slightly. It seemed curious to him. So he opened the door, slinking in. He took in the scene around him. Filing Cabinets that reached to the top of the room surrounded the room in rows. Each row had a list printed on the side. Alex walked over to one. The list contained names. Scanning over it he concluded that they were listed by surname and then forename as well as being in alphabetical order. Alex kept walking until he reached a list with one name that caught his eye. 'Rider, John'.

He looked around before slipping down the aisle. He walked until he found the filing cabinet with 'Rider' stamped at the top of a drawer. Alex opened it, surprised to see his, Ian's and John's files in there. They laid on top of each other. 3 thick files. Alex looked around a final time before taking all 3 out and shoving them into his school bag. Alex shut the drawer, putting his bag back over his shoulders. He walked out, satisfied with what he had managed to do.

* * *

"We're sending your class to Brecon Beacons and telling them who you are." Blunt said...well bluntly.

"I think they figured out who I am after today. Unless they think I got bitten by a spider and they got bitten by a spider. And you know, we all went insane together." Alex mused, already thinking up ideas for revenge on his classmates.

"You will be back with your old Unit and the Units you trained with." Blunt informed him. Alex waved him off with a flap of his hand.

"Okay. Bye." He said, walking out with the files he had managed to snatch. He wasn't going to read them_...yet._


	4. Back again

**DISCLAIMER: I wish I owned Alex Rider so I could earn money for writing this**

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**CUB: BACK AGAIN**

Alex knew his presence would be widely despised in the camp. Many of the soldiers struggled to accept the fact he was there in the first place last time. He knew without being told that he had seemed to age decades instead of years since he was last there. His face was hardened with bags smudged under his eyes. He had gained a few scars, an odd knife wound or such that could be easily excused as being bullied at school. He would never expect any of the SAS men to exactly make him feel at home when he came back.

He was currently sprawled out on the school bus's backseat trying to catch up on sleep. Last night he had spent most of the night in his home gym he had installed in the outside building that MI6 had built in his garden to try and stop the whirl of thoughts that surrounded him since Scorpia attacked. Not only did it hold his gym to keep up his stamina, as going to a regular gym would raise to many questions since he could go longer then even an adult. He groaned as he felt the bus jolt down the bumpy track, his classmates voices growing louder in excitement.

They really had a shock coming to them. Alex sat up and looked in front of him for Tom, before realising that Tom wasn't here. He was never here now. Yet it still surprised him. He swallowed down the bitter taste that had formed in his mouth and looked out of his window. Even if he had no clue what, exactly, the camp look and ran like he would be slightly worried. In the distance he could see the tall chain-link fence with barb wire at the top and bottom. They were approaching a gate guarded by 2 men with guns.

He already felt so welcome.

His classmates were all whispering as the guns became more obvious to them. It was a relief to Alex's mind that MI6 had agreed to only tell the other students who he was at the end. The SAS men were being told after he had been here for a week. The bus then stopped. Silence before one of the men appeared. "Get off." He said simply in a cold voice. Screaming and laughing the rest of his classmates slowly got off of the bus. Alex followed as a more silent and calm example.

"Its so muddy." Hannah Kirl complained. She was one of the 'popular' kids. Hannah had dyed bleach blonde hair with the caked on makeup look. Most of her clothes were low cut and skimpy, showing off way too much flesh. Alex couldn't help but wonder about how cold she would be later on.

"What was that?" One of the men growled as they led them through the now open gate. Wisely Hannah chose to shut up for once in her life. Alex looked behind him as he heard the tell-tale signs of the gate being padlocked behind them by the other man who then ran to the back of the group. Alex guessed they had been told not to lose anyone, purposely or accidently. Otherwise they would just walk on with no consideration. He had first hand experience of the SAS soldiers not caring about kids.

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By the time they even reached the camp the rest of Alex's classmates were muddy and soaked. They had passed the house, which caused a stir. His classmates had actually thought they were staying there. Obviously the SAS soldiers had decided their excited squeals warranted them the miles long walk to the camp. They didn't predict the entire class falling into a ditch filled with water. Hannah had even dragged Alex in trying to grab hold of him to stay out of the ditch. Needless to say he was in a foul temper.

It only got worse when he saw a fuming Sergeant, K Unit and 4 others he distantly remembered. The two men joined the only unit with 2 members in as the Units stared down at them, eyes flickering around before settling on him. To them it was shocking to see how much the kid they knew as Cub had changed. He looked as if he had stepped into a time machine and gone forward a few decades. "Like, my hair is all ruined." Mila Carter whined, she was a loyal follower of Hannah. All the girls seemed to sympathise, moaning about their hair and makeup. It was enough to piss Alex off.

"Shut. The. Fuck. Up." He said loudly, turning to them. "You are pissing me the fuck off." Silence. Before Hannah gave him flirtatious eyes. Surprisingly he had became a favourite with the girls since the Scorpia situation. Alex ignored her and went to stand as far away as he could from her. How he didn't miss this attention before becoming a spy. Now that they had all figured out he wasn't a drug addict he had suddenly became a hot topic or something.

"Rather not." Alex said blankly before paying attention to the Sergeant.

"I DON'T WANT YOU HERE!" Sergeant started after a while. "USUALLY WOMEN ARE NOT ALLOWED IN SAS SO THERE IS A TIME SLOT YOU CAN GO IN THERE TO SHOWER AWAY FROM THE MEN! THE BOYS CAN SHOWER WITH THE MEN! YOU ARE TO DO AS WE SAY! WHILE YOU ARE HERE I AM GOD! THE UNITS ARE GOD! ARE WE CLEAR?"

"Yes." The school kids said. Alex face palmed. They were so doomed.

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**A/N: Brownie points for whoever guesses what happened to Tom. **


	5. Sadistic Bastards

******DISCLAIMER: I own Alex Rider. I also own a pet unicorn called fluffy.**

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**CUB: SADISTIC BASTRADS**

Perhaps Alex knew he couldn't keep his identity a secret from the SAS men. It was only fitting, however, that he played the clueless school boy for as long as possible. After all, he wasn't a spy for nothing. He was, for the first time, nervous. Both of his world were colliding and there was nothing he could do to stop it. The casual and comforting life of being an ordinary teenager was disappearing slowly, even if it was tainted with rumours about him being a drug addict. The fierce and cruel life of being a spy was catching up on him. He could no longer sleep without becoming a thrashing heap, unable to escape his reality even in his dreams, the one thing that should have soothed his tiredness.

He had given up. He had nothing to live for. Yet he still lived. Simply because he didn't want anyone else to live what he went through as a 14 year old. Many would thing that it was cool but they had no idea what he went through. He could barely breathe some days. His only friend had been a victim of his job. Suicide they said. MI6 even agreed that the bullet in Tom Harris's head was of his own accord. Alex knew better, he didn't have any evidence but he knew it was Scorpia. _Scorpia never forgives. _By taking away Tom they had set Alex on self destruct with no one to hold him down, they may have actually succeed in killing him. But not in the way many people wanted to.

It was with these thoughts that he quickened his pace he was running at. The Units had decided that they needed a run to 'calm them down'. Alex was sure it was only because they were sadistic bastards. Alex, already knowing he had been recognised, had streaked off ahead of his classmates immediately, deciding that showing the SAS men exactly what he could do was a hell of a lot better than acting like a weakling. After all, his classmates were going to find out anyway. Alex put on a extra spring of speed in his step as he saw the point they started from getting closer.

He crashed into the clearing, not exactly surprised that the SAS men were sitting around. Their eyes were drawn to him as he stood there, forcing himself to take deep, slow breaths. "Impressive." Wolf growled, not sounding impressed at all. In fact, it was rather sarcastic. "Go shower off and sit in the cabin. Be at cabin T at midnight."

"Are you going to be there?" Alex asked.

"Yes." Wolf snapped.

"This is going to be the best night of my life. I get to be around you." Alex chirped in a fake and overly bright voice before walking off towards the cabin to get his things for the shower.


	6. Too cute

******DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alex Rider. *sigh***

******A/N: I'm sorry I took so long updating, I'm doing my GCSEs soo, yeah. **

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**CUB: TOO CUTE**

If there was one thing Alex knew, it was that he did not want to piss Wolf off. Wolf would murder him in a blink of an eye. However, Alex had been considered suicidal by many people. Alex had decided instead of going to meet up with the 'Super Asshole Service' men, as he called them, he would lay in bed and sleep. It was almost certain that Alex was suicidal. As he woke up being thrown out of his bed by a pissed off Wolf, Alex reflected that maybe it wasn't one of his best ideas to go to sleep. "Get up, be outside in 2 minutes." Wolf growled, stomping out and, surprisingly, shutting the door with enough force to show he was angry but not enough force to wake anyone else up. Alex was impressed by this display of obviously contained anger. His little Wolfie was learning how to control his anger.

Alex shoved his uniform on, his fingers slipping on the many buckles and buttons. He laced up his boots and stumbled out, raking his fingers through his hair in an attempt to sort out the mess it had become, he needed a haircut. His hair was far too long. Alex knew he was in a lot of trouble when he saw that Eagle, Fox and Snake had come with Wolf. Plus the evil smiles they all had on. Except Wolf, his was more like an evil glare. Now Alex thought about it, Wolf never smiled or laughed in his presence. Clearly, Wolf felt a strong, passionate dislike to him. But he didn't hate him, because hate was a very strong word.

"Good morning, Wolfie." Alex chirped loudly, smiling brightly at Wolf. The glare increased. "Aren't you just in a charming mood?"

"You didn't come last night." Wolf snapped, obviously not appreciating Alex's attempt at conversation.

"I'm sorry for cancelling our date." Alex replied. "I just feel that our relationship is extremely one-sided." Alex took a step back as Wolf's eye began to twitch. It wasn't that he was scared. He had been in more terrifying positions. The last time someone's eye began to twitch they exploded. Quite literally.

"You are running the damn obstacle course until I tell you to stop." Wolf growled lowly. _Did Wolf do anything but growl?_ Alex reflected. _Wolf is an extremely angry soldier._

"Okay." Alex said.

"Luckily for you, it rained while you were lazing about." Wolf smirked.

"Okay." Alex replied.

"Will you stop saying that?" Wolf snapped.

"I was always told, 'if you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all'. I have nothing nice to say. However, I think you would be annoyed if I didn't reply." Alex explained.

"You piss me off with just being near me." Wolf snarled, glaring at the 14 year old boy.

"Too cute. You're denying the deep and passionate feelings of love you feel for me, I know."


	7. Hazardous to my health

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Alex Rider. Do you realise how this is on _fanfiction_.net?**

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**CUB: HAZARDOUS TO MY HEALTH**

Alex hummed to himself happily as he crawled through thick, sloppy mud for the eleventh time. Many people would be exhausted after doing it eleven times, but not Alex. Instead of going over it at a quick pace he travelled at a painfully slow speed. He wasn't trying to annoy Wolf so much he broke his hand from punching a tree. That was just a bonus. "PICK UP THE PACE, CUB!" Wolf yelled, his bandaged hand held close to his chest, it was almost protective.

Alex sighed. "I don't kno-" He started singing. 4 powerful glares were sent Alex's way. Alex could sense them, that was the power they contained. "No singing? Okay then, maybe one day you'll understand singing counters depression. True story." Alex could tell just by the quiet shift of footsteps that someone was coming over. He had his money of Wolf, since if K unit was a gang he would be the ringleader. Just as he cleared the barbed wire Alex felt himself being picked up by the back of his clothes. " I don't remember this being part of the obstacle course." Alex said seriously as he stared a fuming Wolf in the face.

"We told you last time, this isn't a fucking resort for teenagers like you who don't know when to shut the fuck up." Wolf snarled. Alex could match his codename to his behaviour. It was clearly a very fitting circumstance. "We don't have time for your scouts songs."

"It wasn't scouts songs. In fact it was, in theory, you. As that is a chant that many military forces use as it distracts the recruits from any pain they have." Alex corrected. "Scouts songs are a little different. A little like this." Alex licked his lips and started singing a song he had learnt as a scout when he was younger. He sung it deliberately off key. Alex groaned quietly as Wolf dropped him. _Okay then. No songs._

"Stop giving us fucking attitude, Cub." Wolf growled at Alex.

"Stop fucking swearing, Wolf." Alex scrambled to his feet as Wolf's face twisted with anger.

"I want to take you to the shooting range and shoot you several times." Wolf said in a deathly serious tone.

"Isn't that hazardous to my health?" Alex asked. Wolf gritted his teeth before storming off, leaving Alex alone with 3 of his unit members. "Can I stop this obstacle course?" Alex yelled as he saw the dark sky begin to tint with the colours of a sunrise. Wolf didn't answer. Shrugging, Alex walked off towards the mess hall. The possible forms of human life they served (and called food) might help him. If it came to the worse he could shove it in Wolf's face. Although that might piss him off further. That would be an interesting moment.

Alex knew that he was expected to give Wolf respect, just because he and many other SAS soldiers had risked their lives for the country. However, he didn't see why he should respect them. He had risked his life to save _the world_, yet he didn't get any respect from anyone. Jones, Blunt and every adult in this world saw him as a irresponsible kid. Alex wished that was the case. He wished he could be _just a kid_. He was trapped in his mind that should never have belonged to someone his age. He could never forget all the deaths he had caused, just because he breathed.

Many people said he was depressed. Alex knew it was more than that. He lived life with the same feelings as most people, but at times he felt everything wash over him, everything that he regretted in life, and he became tired. Not the kind of tired that could be cured with a night's sleep. The kind of bone weary tiredness you get when you realise that you have nothing to live for and you're sick of thinking about your past. It was this phase that Alex liked to call 'momentary depression'.

No one else would understand. All they saw him as, once they learnt his past and his present, was a grenade. All you had to do was pull the pin and he would explode. In the most metaphorical way, of course.

As soon as Alex entered the mess hall he was reminded of his school without Tom. Everywhere he looked was unfriendly faces. The SAS men stared at him, with cold, unforgiving looks. The teenagers glanced at him, gossiping about him and discretely taking up any spare seats. Not one person looked friendly enough to let him sit with them.

It was amusing in some sort of way to Alex. He had saved their lives many times, yet they despised him because of a lie. His life was a lie, even the early stages. Perhaps that's why he was so comfortable in his own web of them. Alex collected his plate full of delicious mush and scanned the room for a spot to sit in for the final time. Seeing no one wanted him to sit at their table he went to the corner of the room and sat on the floor. He picked and ate little of his food. It had became a habit from the amount of times he had been captured.

After he had ate what he wanted to he rose silently, tipping the remains of the mush in the bin and slid out. Not one person had heard him move. No one had seen him leave either. It was then that the SAS men realised that the boy they knew as 'Cub' was a mystery. No one knew anything about him. The only things they did know were assumptions. To them, it was better that way. After all, it's not like Cub was important. He was just someone pretending that he was as tough as the soldiers were.

* * *

Alex had always hated gossip. It was probably because he was the thing they were gossiping about. But he knew as he stood with the rest of the class, waiting for the units that would train them, that he realised that the only thing worse than being gossiped about, was to be gossiped about while you were in front of them.

"Druggie Rider...did you hear?...beat up..."

"Has no...went off the rails...use to be..."

He was sick of hearing them make up stories about how he became a 'drug dealer' and 'drug addict'. He could almost laugh at the irony. He wasn't allowed paracetamol for things such as headaches in MI6's books. In case he became 'addicted'. "I can hear you." Alex said in a loud voice. Everyone instantly shut up. After all, Druggie Rider was probably violent after taking his drugs.

"SILENCE!" Wolf yelled, not noticing that the group of school kids were already silent, as he stamped forward. The units were hot on his heels. "I don't want you here." Wolf said quietly, his eyes scanning the mass of kids.

"Could of fooled me." Alex muttered to himself.

"To me, you're a waste of space. If it was up to me I wouldn't let you come here; even if it is for protection values." Wolf continued. Behind him Fox shifted lazily, rolling his eyes at points of what Wolf was saying. "All of you are worthless." Wolf's eyes latched onto Alex's. "You have no value. The men here have gone through more than any of you could ever dream of encountering. The teenager 'struggles' you face are nothing in comparison to ours. We've seen people die in front of us, and we couldn't do anything about it." Silence was the only thing that followed.

"Okay, so if you follow us...we're going for a first aid lecture." Snake jumped in. "You'll need to know this at some point in your life. It's why we were asked to teach you the basics."


End file.
